Garment-stay.



n. SCHULER.

GARMENT STAY. APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, I912- RENEWED NOV-18|l915.

M "HQ/W1. \NYL m ym w yy P 1 e B a 6 4. z 5 HA 6 2 Q2? m v4 J mvznrron WITNESSES umam PLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON, D. c-

DAVID SCHULER, or NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO, cANAnA, AssIeNon To THE SPIBELLA COMPANY, or MEADVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION onrE NsrLvANrA. V

GARMENT-STAY.

Be it known that I, DAVID SoHULnR, a resident of Niagara Falls, in the Province Y of Ontario, Canada, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Garment Stays, of which the following is a specification. 7

This invention relates to garment stays, and particularly to corset stays such asare made of coiled wire.

The object of the invention is to produce an improved stay which is provided with a continuous chord of solid metal along its middle portion to strengthen the stay, and which may be formed with practically straight side edges and with varying degrees of concavity in cross section to render it more resistant to bending or fiexure in one flatwise direction than the other.

The invention comprises the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of one end of a stay constructed according to my invention; Fig. 2 is a cross section of the same on the line 2-2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a different form of stay; Fig. 4 is an edge view of the same; Fig. '5 is a cross section of the same on the line 5-5, Fig. 3; and Figs; 6,7, 8 and 9 are views corresponding to Fig. 1 showing modifications. 1

The stay shown in the drawings is composed of two parallel longitudinal members A and B, each of which is formed of wire progressively coiled or bent to form a series of loops or eyes 1, each coil or complete bend of the wire forming a single loop or eye. Considering each member by itself, the wire is coiled or bent so that the loops or eyes along one side edge thereof are free to bend or flex independently of each other, while the arched portions 2 connecting successive loops or eyes are all substantially in the same straight line and form a substantially straight side edge for the member.

In all the embodiments shown in the drawings the loops or eyes in both side members are of exactly the same pitch, that is to say, successive loops or eyes in both members are exactly the same distance apart lengthwise of the stay, although this is not essential. The two longitudinal members A and B, are disposed side by side and lie in parallelism with each other, and preferably Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 20,1916.

Renewed November 18, 1915. Serial No. 62,242.

have their loops or eyes directly opposite to each other transversely of the stay. At their inner edges the loops or eyes of the two members are interlaced or intertwined with each other, as shown at 3. The coilsv of the two members may be formed by coiling the wire in the same'dire'ction, as in Fig. 3, or in opposite directions, as in Fig. 1, or by bending the wire back and forth alternately as in Figs. 7, 8, and 9.

Suitable means is provided for rigidly,

firmly, and permanently securing the inner or adjacent edges of the longitudinal members to each other. This may be accomplished in several ways. In Figs. 1, 3 and 6 the interlaced or intertwined portions of each pair of oppositely; disposed loops or eyes are secured together, as at l, either by solderingor brazing, in such manner as to form a rlgid connection of the two side mem- V bers along the middle of the stay. Preferably also, successive cfoils or bends of the wire, longitudinally of the stay, are rigidly and firmly secured to each other. In Fig. 1 the eyes or loops in each member are shown as slightly overlapping, although this is not essential, and in this case also successive pairs of eyes or loops lengthwise of the stay are secured together,as at 5, by soldering or brazing, as described, to form a continuous chord or ,backbone of solid metal lengthwise of the middle portion of the stay.

Fig. 7 shows an embodiment of the invention in which the side members are each composed of wire bent back and forth alternately and progressively to form oppositely disposed loops oreyes 6, the wire of the loops or eyes of each member being interlaced or intertwined, as at 7. These members are secured to each other in the same manner as the members shown in Fig. 1. That is to say, the loops or eyes 6 of the two members are directly opposite to each other and rigidly secured together by soldering or brazing, as at 4. The connection of successive loops or eyes in each member to each other by intertwining and the rigid connec tion of oppositely disposed loops or eyes in the two members to each other at 4=forms a fairly continuous chord of metal along the middle portion of the stay. However, if preferred, successive loops or eyes along the middle of the stay mayalso be rigidly and and are interlaced or intertwined and firmly solidly secured to each other by soldering or brazing, as described, and as shown at 5, Fig. 7. Moreover, to provide a more rigid connection a suitable binding wire 10 ma be threaded through the intertwined portions of the eyes or loops, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, which represent two of the well. known Beeman stays having their adjacent edges intertwined and soldered or brazed together.

Fig. 9 shows a difierent form of stay composed of two members, in each of which the wire is bent back and forth into sinuous form, the pitch of the wire in the two members being the same. The two members are arranged side by side with the loops of .wire directly opposite to and interlaced with each other. These oppositely disposed loops are secured together by soldering or brazing or the like but, since they do not overlap longitudinally of the stay, a continuous wire 10 is likewise threaded through the intertwined portions of successive bends of the wire to form a continuous chord of solid metal along the middle of the stay. This wiremay also be secured by the soldering operation in the joint between the two members of the stay.

WVith all forms of the invention the stay is decidedly stiffened and strengthened along its middle portion and there is no possibility in use of the inner edges of the coils or bends of the two members being displaced with reference to each other by edgewise fleXure of the stay. The stay is also rendered decidedly stiffer and more resilient against flatwise fiexure thereof, this result being obtained by the provision of the practically continuous chord of solid metal along the center line or backbone of the stay, and the consequent prevention of the lateral sliding or displacement of the inner edges of the loops or turns of. the wire with respect to each other. All the forms shown in the drawings for this reason are much stronger and more resilient than prior stays. The central strengthening chord also permits the use of lighter wire for the stay, with a corresponding reduction in the weight and bulk thereof. v

To render the stay stiffer against bending in one flatwise direction than in the other, the stay may be made concave in cross section, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. Such a stay may be formed by suitably holding the two longitudinal members with their general planes inclined to each other, while the loops or eyes along the middle portion of the stay are secured to each other by soldering, brazing, or wiring as described. By holding the two members in different relative positions, varying degrees of concavity can be readily secured and the difference in stiffness in one flatwise direction over that in the other may be modified as desired. The stay shown in Figs. 2 and 5 resists bending toward its convex side or away from its hollow or con cave side to a much greater degree than toward its concave side.

b With a stay such as shown in Fig. 1, the bearing of the arched portions 2 successively upon each other provides substantially three continuous chords lengthwise of the stay. That along the middle line is a continuous chord of solid rigid metal. The two chords alongthe side edges are not, however, of solid metal, and, during edgewise fiexure of the stay, the successive arched portions can slide on each other. Although I prefer to provide my improved stay with the continuous uninterrupted solid chord along its middle portion, as shown in Fig. 1, a stay which is stronger and more resilient than prior stays may be obtained without this continuity and solidity. Such a stay is shown in Fig. 3, where successive loops or eyes longitudinally of the stay do not overlap and are not secured to each other. This stay is formed by merely soldering or brazing together the interlaced oppositely disposed eyes or loops of the two members A and B.

Fig. 6 illustrates a stay in which each of the members A and B is formed of a plurality of wires coiled or bent in parallelism with each other and arranged with their loops or eyes opposite and secured to each other as in the other forms described.

The eyes, loops or bends of the wire in all forms of the invention may be secured to each other in any suitable manner, either by hand or in a machine of proper design. The stay may be made either of a single wire, or of two or more wires. When made of two wires each wire forms one of the members A and B. Other arrangements of the wire in the two members than these shown in the drawings may also be used if desired.

What I claim is 1. A garment stay comprising wire bent to form two longitudinal members, each comprising successive loops or eyes and connecting arched portion, said members lying side by side with oppositely disposed loops ofthe two members interlaced with each other, the interlaced loops or eyes being soldered together so as to form a rigid backbone along the middle line of the stay.

2. A garment stay comprising wire bent to form two longitudinal members, each comprising successive loops or eyes, said loops or eyes slightly overlapping each other, oppositely disposed loops in the two members being interlaced and soldered together to form a continuous chord of solid metal along the middle line of the stay, the loops or eyes being free to move with reference to each other along the edges of the stay.

3. A garment stay comprising wire bent to form two substantially flat longitudinal 3 members, each comprising successive loops or eyes, said members lying side by side and having the loops or eyes interlaced, and being rigidly secured together with their planes inclined to each other to form a concave stay in cross section.

4. A garment stay comprising wire bent to form two flat longitudinal members, said members being soldered together with their fiat planes inclined to each other to form a concave stay in cross section.

5. A garment stay comprising Wire bent to form two substantially flat longitudinal members, each member comprising successive loops or eyes, the eyes in one member being intertwined in and soldered to the eyes in the other member along the middle line of the stay with the planes of the two members inclined to each other to thereby form a concave stay in cross section.

6. A garment stay, comprising wire bent to form two longitudinal members lying edge to edge and each comprising succes- Copies of this patent may sive loops or eyes,

threaded throughgthe loops or eyes along the contiguous edges of the stay members and rigidly secured thereto and thereby forming a solid back bone along the middle line of the stay.

7. A garment stay comprising wire bent to form two longitudinal members lying side by side, each member comprising successive loops or eyes, the loops or eyes of the two members being interlaced, and a binding wire threaded through the interlaced loops or eyes of said members and rigidly secured thereto, said members being thereby secured immovably with reference to each other. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

DAVID soHu ER.

Witnesses G120. W. KNOX,

RUTH E. ELSHEIMER.

be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 01 Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

and a binding wire 

